PAC chair returns vehicle

Khasyauli, Jan 12 : Province no. 5 Public Accounts Committee Chair Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary has returned the vehicle that was provided to him by the provincial secretariat. Chaudhary handed over the keys of the vehicle (Lu.1Jha. 441) to chief of the logistics department Krishna Gautam on Friday.

The move comes after the procurement of vehicles by the secretariat was mired in a controversy, with reports of alleged irregularities. “Since the procurement is under investigation I decided to return the vehicle on moral grounds,” Chaudhary said. The provincial secretariat had purchased 13 vehicles for various committee chairs, party chief whips and the provincial assembly secretary, among others.

Meanwhile, the PAC has begun investigation after seeking all necessary documents related to the vehicle purchase. The PAC meeting on Friday formed a probe team led by the committee member Kul Prasad Pokharel in order to make a preliminary study of the documents of all the vehicles. Baijanth Jayaswal and Kalpana Pandey are other members of the probe team.